We first had a good version of this dish in a hawker stand in Singapore and it blew my socks off (actually it was way too hot to be wearing socks but you get the idea). For me it is the perfect stewed beef, rich, spicy and totally addictive. Its history is Indonesian in origin …
Continue Reading →
Wimbledon is cancelled this year so there is sure to be a bargain sale of strawberries in the next couple of weeks. Whilst I love them picked straight from the garden on a warm afternoon, I also like to dress them up in this beautiful french style strawberry tart. You often see these tarts in …
Continue Reading →
In the distant past when we lived in London, my Saturday morning reward after a weeks work would normally involve a tasty treat from the excellent Maison Blanc on Hampstead high street. The cafe, pictured below is sadly no longer there but my favourite menu item “tarte fine a la tomate” has stuck with me …
Continue Reading →
Cooking chicken wings can be a little counter-intuitive. Normally when cooking chicken, particularly the breast meat, you are constantly trying to make sure you don’t overcook it and end up with a piece of rubber. Chicken wings however require you to to be a little brutal to get the best out of them. In this …
Continue Reading →
I took out my running shoes today from a box they had been sitting snuggly in for 7 years. I hate running, but since cycling is banned, the swimming pool closed and walking more than 100m up is also out of the question, the boy is running out of options (pardon the pun..) I considered …
Continue Reading →
We always make marmalade at this time of year, mostly because we like to use blood oranges which are at their best right now. Their combination of sweet, sour and bitter flavours work just perfectly in marmalade. This year I admit though it feels strange to be making large quantities for next winter when it …
Continue Reading →
We have the Parsis to thank for this one. They set sail to India from ancient Persia 1300 years ago and are credited for some of the dishes we would now define as typically Indian. Dhansak and this Prawn Pathia are good examples, both blending heat with sour and sweet flavours. We have often served …
Continue Reading →
Anyone who has stayed with us will know that we have an excessive number of cookbooks. One might think therefore that when Easter arrives all I have to do is peruse a couple of my favourite baking books, pluck a Hot Cross Bun recipe at random and off we go. No such luck. I spent …
Continue Reading →
I love making bread with yeast in, really I do.. but sometimes I feel I’m spending the entire day making sure it has risen to just the right point and I get little else done! Kulcha naan is one of our favourite breads partly because of its simplicity but also because it is so light …
Continue Reading →
We first came across this delicious nutty spice mix in Australia where we used to eat it with fresh Turkish bread and lashings of local olive oil. For some reason or other I completely forgot about it when we moved to France until this week. Our chickens are giving us a very healthy supply of …
Continue Reading →